The Handmaid's Tale Loss Essay

Have you ever lost someone or something important in your life? And by losing it, it somehow changed the way you thought about your life? Although both characters in The Handmaid’s Tale and The Book Thief experienced a great deal of loss, I believe that Offred’s loss was greater than that of Liesel Meminger.

Offred’s previous life was never really talked about during the novel The Handmaid’s Tale. The Handmaid’s Tale talks about the changes in her life, but we never really have a full understanding of her life before the Republic of Gilead was formed. We never know how happy she was, we only know how happy she remembered being. Offred’s life is described as scheduled, boring, and dangerous. Not necessarily in that order. Much of

It could have been the loss of your lucky sweater, to the loss of a family member or friend. I am sure you can think of many, but have you ever lost everything? Although both characters in the novels experienced the loss of family only Offred could have known what it felt like to lose everything.

Liesel Meminger still had a somewhat normal life. She played soccer, and even had a crush. She could talk freely, laugh and even argue. Liesel could voice her own opinion, which she did. Liesel Meminger walked, and talked the way she wanted. She had the freedom to talk to whomever she wanted. Liesel was able to go out and be herself. She had one of the most important things in life. Freedom of choice. At the end of the book Liesel knew what had happened to her family. She knew they were killed by the bombs and that they were gone. Liesel was able to move on knowing what her past represented.

Offred had none of these things. Offred was forced to act, talk, and even walk a certain way. Offred’s life was planned out for her. She would go here one day, and do this the next. Even Offred’s room was not as a room should be. They had to take ceiling fans, locks, or anything you could hang

And even though the author barely comes out and says it, they were forced to do this so Offred could not commit suicide. Her freedoms were restricted and taken away. The only way she could be free was to escape, and that was near impossible. This left her with the option of taking her own life, but that was also not a possible choice. Offred had to live with the fact that if she made a mistake they could and would kill her. Offred lost all of her freedoms when the Gilead Society formed. I say this knowing that Offred did not only lose her freedom, but she lost her family and even her memories. Offred believed that she was being drugged to forget her old life. She was losing her memories of her family, of her daughter. Offred first lost her family the day in the woods, but she lost them a second time when she lost her memories. Offred lost who she was before Gilead. It talks throughout the novel about Offred trying to remember Luke’s face. She lost her memories of her family. Something that had been so important to her in the past was now just a fading memory. Offred did not even have the knowledge of what had happened to her family. She was left with the thoughts that formed in her brain about what they could have done with her sweet daughter. She was left to hope and pray that they were safe, left to think they could be dead. She had nothing. They had given her nothing. She was not even granted the gift of knowing what